in December 1998. In December 2002, it was decided that a stricter concentration standard would be applied.

In addition, the national government held its first Ministerial Conference on Countermeasures against Dioxin in February 24, 1999. In the Ministerial Conference on Countermeasures against Dioxin held in March 30, 1999, “Basic Guidelines of Japan for the Promotion of Measures against Dioxins” were laid down, which urged the national government as a whole to vigorously pursue various countermeasures, such as considerably decreasing the emission amount of dioxins. According to the guidelines in particular, it was decided that the total emission amount of dioxins would be reduced by “about 90%” by the end of March 2003, compared to the amount in 1997.

In 1999, the “Law concerning Special Measures against Dioxins” was enacted. In 2000, based on the same law, a target reduction amount was set by the “Plan for Reducing the Amount of Dioxins Emitted Through Business Activities in Japan”, and the plan required an emission inventory of dioxins to be drawn up every year. It was confirmed that the estimated emission amount of dioxins in 2003 was about 95% smaller than that in 1997, and the plan was evaluated because the target emission amount was achieved. According to the report by the Central Environment Council (in November 2004) it was stated that the risk of dioxins needs to be continuously controlled, the plan was changed in June 2005 in order to take further measures for reducing dioxins, and a new reduction target for 2010 was set. The total estimated emission amount in 2007 fell below this target, and it is considered that dioxins have been steadily reduced (Table 2-7).

In addition, the total amount of dioxins emitted from waste incinerators in 2006 was about 98% less than that in 1997. This is probably because many of the incinerators that could not meet the emission standard and other structural and maintenance management standards, were either suspended or closed their operations due to the support measures, etc. related to tighter regulations and the development of standard-meeting incinerators, and because new incinerators that met the standards were developed. The achievement rate in 2007 of the environmental quality standards set according to the Law concerning Special Measures against Dioxins was 100.0% for the atmosphere, and the environmental quality standards were met for all measurement points.

Table 2-8 Status of export and import based on the Basel Law (2007)

Weight (tons)	Partner countries	Items	Purpose of export and import
Export	48,788	South Korea, Belgium, USA	Lead ash, lead scrap (lead-acid battery), solder waste, nickel sludge, etc.	Collection of metals
Import	6,123	Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, China, etc.	Copper sludge, silver sludge, zinc sludge, used fluorescent lamp, waste substrate, electronic component scrap, nickel-cadmium battery scrap, etc.	Collection of metals, etc.

Source: Ministry of the Environment

Table 2-7 Reduction targets concerning estimated emissions of dioxins by business sectors in Japan

(WHO-TEF (1998) used)

Business sectors	Reduction targets in FY 2010 (g-TEQ/year)	(Reference) Estimated emissions
FY 1997 (g-TEQ/year)	FY 2003 (g-TEQ/year)	FY 2007 (g-TEQ/year)
1. Waste treatment sector	164~189	7,205~7,658	219~244	182~200
(1) Municipal waste incinerator	51	5,000 [Water] 0.044	71 [Water] 0.004	52 [Water] 0.002
(2) Industrial waste incinerator	50	1,505 [Water] 5.3	75 [Water] 0.60	60 [Water] 1.6
(3) Small scale waste incinerator, etc.	63~88	700~1,153	73~98	70~88
2. Industrial sector	146	470 [Water] 6.3	149 [Water] 0.93	100 [Water] 0.8
(1) Electric furnace for steel-making	80.3	229	80.3	50.2
(2) Sintering facility for steel making	35.7	135	35.7	20.5
(3) Zinc-collection facility (Calciner, sintering furnace, blast furnace, smelting furnace, drying furnace)	5.5	47.4	5.5	1.8
(4) Aluminum alloy manufacturing facility (Calciner, smelting furnace, drying furnace)	14.3	31.0	17.4	15.6
(5) Copper-collection facility	0.048	0.053	-	-
(6) Pulp manufacturing facility (bleaching process)	0.46	0.74	0.46	0.58
(7) Other facilities	9.9	26.5	9.9	11.1
3. Others	4.4~7.7	4.8~7.4 [Water] 1.2	4.4~7.3 [Water] 0.56	4.2~7.3 [Water] 0.29
Total	315~343	7,680~8,135	372~400	286~307

Note 1: The reduction targets represent annual dioxin emissions after measures to reduce dioxins in exhaust gas and effluent have been taken.

Note 2: WHO-TEF (1998) used: TEFs proposed by the WHO in 1997 and published in a specialist journal in 1998 were used.

Note 3: "3. Others" refers to crematoriums, cigarette smoke, vehicle exhaust, terminal sewage treatment facilities, and final landfill sites for waste.

Note 4: “Water” shown in the table refers to the discharge into water (included figure).

Note 5: The symbol “—” indicates there was no operation in the relevant year.

Source: Created by the Ministry of Environment, based on the Government Plan to Reduce Dioxin Levels Resulting from Business Activities in Japan (enacted in September 2000 and amended in June 2005) and Dioxins Emissions Inventory (December 2008)